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We've been mulling over the current sociopolitical climate in which we now find ourselves and are looking for ways to incorporate our beliefs into the details of our weddings. Whether you're dealing with guests who actively disagree with your politics, trying to balance religious beliefs which are not your own, or even going so far as to use your wedding as a political act, weddings are inherently not separate from politics. If you think they are then you may benefit from a privilege not afforded to some, like the LGBTQ communities who have and still struggle with gaining and keeping the rights of legal marriage and recognition.
Wedding as a political act: 8 ways to show your wedding is part of the resistance
We've talked for years about folks who've used their weddings as political statements, most notably with marriage equality back before it became legal nationwide... but... Read more
In this vein, and while we still have so far to go and so many potential obstacles in our path, I wanted to call out some ways to include the recent advances from Obergefell v. Hodges (the SCOTUS marriage equality case in which the Court held that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Constitution) into your ceremony. Here are some of my favorite lines to pull into your equality-focused ceremony.
Best quotes from the SCOTUS marriage equality decision:
Healey and Allie (in the photo above!) used this snippet in their elopement ceremony and it is MAGICAL…
No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity.
The centrality of marriage to the human condition makes it unsurprising that the institution has existed for millennia and across civilizations. Since the dawn of history, marriage has transformed strangers into relatives, binding families and societies together. Confucius taught that marriage lies at the foundation of government.
The nature of marriage is that, through its enduring bond, two persons together can find other freedoms, such as expression, intimacy, and spirituality. This is true for all persons, whatever their sexual orientation.
[T]he right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. The Court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them.
Okay, let's revisit love is love is love…
I'm not crying, you're crying! Okay, we're probably both crying. Please let us know if you end up using any of these lines. We'd love to publish your ceremony for others to see!
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
I love that you just posted this! We’re getting married in July and have talked about using a quote from the marriage equality act for a reading at the ceremony!